UPSIDE Foods’ lab-grown meat approved by the FDA for human consumption

UPSIDE Foods, a Berkeley, California-based company that grows meat, poultry and seafood directly from animal cells, becomes the first in the world to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its lab-grown meat. The FDA said that its meat product is safe for human consumption.

According to Reuters, this is the first time that the U.S. FDA has granted such approval for cultivated meat. The US agency revealed its decision on Wednesday this week. UPSIDE Foods made chicken meat by collecting cells from live animals and using them to cultivate meat inside stainless steel tanks.

With the FDA’s approval, the company may continue with its plans to sell its products. However, in a joint statement, Robert M. Califf, M.D., the commissioner of Food and Drugs - Food and Drug Administration and Susan T. Mayne, Ph.D., the director of Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), said that before UPSIDE Foods can fully proceed with marketing the cell-cultured meat, an inspection from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and USDA-Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are still needed.

At any rate, the American food and drug regulator further said that it had already analyzed data from UPSIDE Foods, and it has no further questions about its conclusion that the lab-grown meat is safe to eat. But then again, the FDA explained that its review is not technically an approval and pointed out that it is only for UPSIDE products and does not apply to other companies in the same business.

"This is a watershed moment in the history of food and we started UPSIDE amid a world full of skeptics, and today, we've made history again as the first company to receive a 'No Questions' letter from the FDA for cultivated meat,” UPSIDE Foods’ founder and chief executive officer, Dr. Uma Valeti, said in a press release.

The CEO added, “This milestone marks a major step towards a new era in meat production, and I'm thrilled that U.S. consumers will soon have the chance to eat delicious meat that's grown directly from animal cells."